DC at Night

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Beatles Spotted in DuPont Circle Mansion

Listen,
Do you want to know a secret?,
Do you promise not to tell?, whoa oh, oh.
- Lennon and McCartneyNow that Deep Throat has been uncovered, Washington's best kept secret is The O Mansion.

- Savannah Magazine

The Beatles in DC?

What could be more British than the Beatles? Maybe the birth of a royal British baby? But what if you could combine the two into a single celebration party. Well, blimey blokes ... you'd have one bangin' big British birth day/band bash, wouldn't ya.

The precise date was chosen because it marked the 50th anniversary of the release in Britain of The Beatles' 1st album Please Please Me. But in a fortuitous turn of events, the party took on additional British significance when Kate and William (or Kate and William as they are known all over the world) proudly announced the delivery of an heir to the British throne earlier in the day.

The unique mansion is a fascinating DC attraction, albeit one that isn't quite as recognizable as the White House or the Lincoln Memorial. Defying a single descriptor, it is at the same time a hotel, museum, musicians' hangout, art and crafts display gallery, book repository (with more than 30,000 books), and party hall. It's kitschy, kooky, elegant, eclectic, mysterious, marvelous, and just a damned fun place to spend time.

Prior to the official presentation of the Beatles figures, guests, with early Beatles tunes as a soundtrack, explored the mansion/museum's 100 rooms with its 32 secret doors. My wife just kept saying "amazing, I love this place. Look at this" over and over.

O staffers had placed Beatles artifacts and memorabilia, including signed guitars, rare photos and a letter John Lennon wrote to a laundry, throughout the museum's 4 open floors. Many of the guests took part in a special Treasure Hunt for All Things Beatles. Items to be found ranged from a picture of Yoko Ono with the founder of the mansion, H. H. Leonards Spero, to Sean Lennon's guitar.

In this bathroom, John Lennon always shines on

The mansion was an especially appropriate place for the Tussauds Beatles night since one of its themed suites is named The Lennon Suite and features all things John. The suite includes a bathroom where the floor features an lighted image of Lennon. Then there is also the fact that H. H. (as she likes to be called) is on the Board of Directors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Later, as many guests lined up to get a picture taken with their favorite Beatle, a singing-guitar playing group of musicians from Austin, Texas kept others swaying and singing along to Beatles songs.

On our walk back to the Dupont Circle Judy and I agreed that our 1st visit to the Mansion would definitely not be our last. You too can visit for the day or a stay. If you would like to spend a night or 2, prices range from $350 a night for a small bedroom to $25,000 a night for 20 bedrooms, 32 bathrooms, 10 whirlpool tubs, 6 steam showers, 2 rain
showers and sauna, 11 kitchens, 2 elevators, 11 special event rooms, 18
fireplaces, 3 laundry facilities, 2 business centers, a game room, the Amnesia Room, an exercise room, and a private chef. But no matter what option you choose, as the Beatles themselves once sang, you will enjoy your magical mystery tour of the Mansion.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Of course, I had to get my picture taken with the likenesses of the 2 living Beatles and post it on Facebook, contending that I was at an exclusive DC party for the royal birth. And just in case you are wondering as I was, it takes 6 months and costs about $300,000 each to create a Madame Tussauds figure. By comparison, in 1963, the total session time cost for producing Please Please Me was £400, the equivalent of £10,000 today.

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Judy and Me

DC and Us: Perfect Together

In June 2011, I retired as an English teacher in an urban high school. One month earlier, my wife, Judy, had retired as the manager of a custom frame shop and art gallery.

We sold our South Jersey home of 33 years and moved to a 2-bedroom apartment in Crystal City, directly across the Potomac from Washington, D.C.

Within an extremely short time (I say minutes; Judy says days) we realized that we had made a perfect decision. We loved DC.

The Prices Do DC is an attempt to share that love of place and what we are doing on a regular basis with you.

Journal writing such as we are attempting here is about the process of recognizing, recalling, recording, and remembering. As such, I think our blog has 3 audiences. First, and foremost, there is Judy and I. Call it our electronic scrapbook. Next, there are our grandchildren Audrey and Owen. When we are no longer here (and may those days not come for a long, long time), we hope they can still visit these pages to find out what their grandparents were interested in, did, and liked during their DC years. Finally, if you are reading this, there is you.

Like all successful projects, The Prices Do DC calls for a clearly defined division of labor. Here is ours. We jointly plan. I make a list. We travel together. Judy is the financial overseer. I record our observations in a small notebook. I eat a lot. Judy eats a little. Once home, I create the posts. Judy edits them. I design the look. Judy has her final say and pushes the publish button.

And now the work falls to you. Please enjoy what we have created. And if you do (or if you don't) let us know. Attach a comment somewhere on the page here. Send us an email. Knock on our door. We're waiting to hear from you.

Peace --- Dave and Judy Price

How to Reach Us

There are 2 ways to contact us:1) attach a comment at the end of any post2) send us an email directly at dleeprice @comcast.netEither way will let you send us a shout-out.